Elections for the office of Massachusetts House of Representatives were held in Massachusetts on November 2, 2010. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was May 4, 2010 for partisan and is August 3 for Independents. The primary election day was on September 14, 2010.

Campaign contributions

This chart shows how many candidates ran for state house in Massachusetts in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in state house races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come from Follow The Money.[1]

Year

Number of candidates

Total contributions

2008

251

$13,560,016

2006

265

$12,801,270

2004

305

$15,775,817

2002

312

$11,100,288

Incumbency

Unopposed incumbents

76 incumbents (56%) face no competition in the November 2 general election and are thus, barring unforeseen circumstances, guaranteed re-election in November.

Retiring incumbents

Twenty-four incumbent representatives are not running for re-election, while 136 incumbents (82%) ran for re-election. Of the 24 incumbents who are not running for re-election, 20 are Democrats and 4 are Republicans.

Qualifications

Article LXXI of the Massachusetts Constitution states: Every representative, for one year at least immediately preceding his election, shall have been an inhabitant of the district for which he is chosen and shall cease to represent such district when he shall cease to be an inhabitant of the commonwealth.

List of candidates

Note: The below list reflects the certified lists of candidates for the Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican primaries, included in the external links section. The non-party candidate filings are not due until August.

First Barnstable District

September 14 Democratic primary:

Cleon Turner (D) Incumbent Turner has represented this district since 2004. a